50 years ago today :- Leave My Kitten Alone Written by: John-Turner-McDougal Recorded: 14 August 1964 Producer: George Martin Engineer: Norman Smith John Lennon: vocals Paul McCartney: bass, piano George Harrison: lead guitar Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine One of The Beatles finest lost songs, Leave My Kitten Alone was recorded during the second session for the Beatles For Sale album, but remained unreleased until Anthology 1 in 1995. Leave My Kitten Alone was the groups first complete, full-band song to be discarded since How Do You Do It in September 1962. The Beatles most likely based their version on Johnny Prestons 1961 single, although it it had originally been recorded by Little Willie John in 1959. The song had been a part of The Beatles live repertoire during their Hamburg period, although by August 1964 they hadnt performed it for two years. That was a Johnny Preston song that wed rehearsed in Liverpool along with all our Cavern stuff and it was just in our repertoire. It wasnt a big one that we used to do, wed pull it out of the hat occasionally, and we also recorded it. Paul McCartney The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn Had the song been released on Beatles For Sale, it would surely have been one of the highlights. Why it was rejected is unclear, although it has been suggested that it was dropped in favour of Everybodys Trying To Be My Baby, in order to give George Harrison a lead vocal. Nonetheless, as Mark Lewisohn pointed out in The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, hindsight shows that perhaps it might have made a better LP track than, say, Mr Moonlight, most peoples least favourite song on what was to become the Beatles For Sale LP. In the studio The group recorded five takes of Leave My Kitten Alone on 14 August 1964. The first was complete, though lacked the vocal forcefulness it needed. Take two broke down, with Lennon saying, I wish I could do it without playing. He did just that, recording a second complete take - with a searing lead vocal, according to Mark Lewisohn - followed by another false start. The fifth and final attempt was the one marked best, and was later included on Anthology 1. Onto take five Lennon overdubbed a second lead vocal and George Harrison double-tracked his lead guitar. Paul McCartney taped a piano part and Ringo Starr added a tambourine. Leave My Kitten Alone was never mixed during The Beatles career, although a stereo version was made for a single, to be released alongside the unreleased Sessions album, which was prepared by EMI in 1985. This version was subsequently bootlegged, although the other complete attempts remain largely unheard. youtube/watch?v=kRMxJd8ERms
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 20:04:39 +0000
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